topsy tour-vy

...did I mention I love puns? :)

I am officially on tour again. Tours come in many shapes and sizes. Mine looks like this: there are 5 actors, and 4 crew members. We travel in a van (7 of us, plus modest luggage) and a 26 ft moving truck (2 of us, plus all the set and costume pieces & props). We take turns driving a few hours at a time. We spend every night in a hotel -- we only drive during the day -- and when we reach a city where we'll perform, we set up camp for anywhere from a single day to a whole week. Some venues have 1 show booked for us, some have 7 shows booked, and the audiences range from 200 to 3,000 at a time! (Most places last tour fell in around the 800-1,000 kid mark). Let me tell ya, it is quite an experience, hearing the shrieks, gasps and cheers of a thousand kindergarteners:). With any show, the audience is the final piece involved in making a complete work of art or entertainment. With a lively show for tots, that feels especially true. These moments we worked so hard to create in the rehearsal room are all for them. There are jokes in this show that adults will enjoy and smile at, but kids? Especially kids with their peers? They will laugh their heads off. It's so much fun to witness.

Being an actor on this tour, you get a lot of free time. I tend to use it exploring each new city (with a camera-phone, a sketchpad and sometimes the scrawled directions to a local indy bookstore, coffee shop or comicbook store), reading, and watching too much "Law & Order" <blush>. Yesterday, I visited the beach and grabbed dinner with some of my cohorts. But I will be on tour for 2 1/2 months. There's bound to be quite a lot of unproductive time in there.... To combat this, I trolled the internet (and my brain) for great artistic to-dos. 

Ahem!

You could...share your thoughts on the books you read. Enjoy a hilarious monologue from time to time. Listen to some fantastic storytelling. Marvel at what is being done on faraway stages. Tap into the other bits of your creativity. Write a novel. Ogle bookshelves (C'mon! After writing a novel, you have earned the right to ogle some bookshelves) or laugh at bunnies (ditto).

I look forward to continued blogging from the road! I consider that a pretty great artistic to-do as well.